Page 60 of If You Fight

“Okay. When’s the next one scheduled for?” I asked and enjoyed the look of surprise as it came over his face.

Had he expected me to be afraid or worried when he said I had to go back to fighting? He had no idea.

“I don’t know yet. I have to say that I’m a little shocked you aren’t fighting me on this. I thought you’d be unhappy going back to that life.”

I shook my head and shrugged. “No. Like you said, fighting is where my talents lie. Why should I pretend that’s not true? God gives each one of us a talent. Mine just happens to be beating the hell out of people in the ring. Now if you told me I had to go back to living in that warehouse, I’d be unhappy. That part of the life I wouldn’t want. But the fighting? It’s who I am, I guess.”

Pleased with my answer, he nodded his head and smiled. “Smart man. Too many people in this world refuse to accept what they’re good at.”

“Not me. I know exactly what I’m good at. Just let me know when the match is. In the meantime, I’ll be training hard for it. I’ve got an undefeated streak to keep up. One and counting.”

My joke made a full laugh explode out of him. “You really are a cocky son of a bitch. Always have been. I should have seen that in these past months. I won’t make that mistake again.”

I stood to leave and smiled. “I hope you bet on me last night. That would have been a big mistake if you didn’t.”

His face quickly fell and his mouth turned down in a frown. “Yes, that would have been a mistake. Yet another I won’t soon make again.”

He didn’t stop me on my way out of his office, and as I walked back to my apartment, I had to admit I felt pretty damn good with how this day had gone so far. My body still felt like a bus had hit me and then backed over me just for shits and giggles, but that would fade in a few days. In the meantime, hopefully Floyd would find me a fight so I could start making money to get Serena and me the hell away from this place and the long arm of Robert Erickson.

I got back just as Serena finished talking to someone on her phone, and as she pressed END, she hung her head. Had Robert done something because of that comment I made? Damnit, I shouldn’t have been so fucking cocky!

Wrapping my arms around her, I took her into my hold and felt her trembling. “Hey, what happened? Whose ass do I have to kick?”

Serena laughed at my joke, but when she looked up at me, I saw that same sadness in her eyes I saw the first night I met her. “That was the private detective. He hasn’t found anything yet on my mother. That wasn’t what upset me, though.”

“What was it?” I asked, wondering what this guy could have told her to make her so upset if he hadn’t located her mother yet.

She let out a deep sigh. “He told me that it’s possible she might not be alive and not to get my hopes up too high. Ryder, I can’t believe she’s dead. I can’t. Not after finally being able to look for her now.”

“Don’t listen to him. He doesn’t know anything yet, so he’s just trying to cover his ass. He can’t say anything for certain. It will be okay. He’ll find her. I believe that.”

Pressing her cheek to my chest, she rested her head there and sighed again. “I just want to hear some good news for a change. Is that too much to ask?”

I stroked her hair and smiled that I could be the one to give her that good news she so wanted. “Well, how about this? I’m not working for your father as one of his thugs anymore. He wants me fighting exclusively instead.”

She looked up at me and knitted her brows. “I don’t know if I should be happy or just more worried after what I saw last night.”

Cupping my cheek with her palm, she tenderly ran the pad of her thumb over the spot just under my eye where that guy had gotten me good with a few punches. “I hate the idea of you fighting again, Ryder. What if you get hurt?”

I reveled in the feel of her touch on my bruised and battered face and closed my eyes to enjoy it. “I told you. I’m tough. I can handle it.”

“I don’t want you to have to be tough all the time,” she said sadly.

Opening my eyes, I knew my news hadn’t been good in her opinion. I couldn’t tell her about what might happen with Floyd, but I wanted her to see my fighting again was a good thing.

“This is our first step toward freedom. Believe me, Serena, me back in the ring is good for us.”

Her dark eyes opened wide at my mention of us finally being free of her father and this place. “How is it going to help us get away from here?”

I gently ran my hand over her belly and smiled. “I can’t get into it all right now, but trust me. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get us away from here before the baby comes. I promise.”

She wanted to ask more questions about how I’d do it, but I stopped her with a kiss, loving how her lips felt on mine. No matter what it took, I’d do this for her.

For us.

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